The World Tour Story

The day after being accepted to Columbia, John Shoaf (class of 2010) charted out a 15-week backpacking trip through 18 countries around around the world. What started out as simply his own adventure of a lifetime, quickly evolved into what is now an annual tradition at Columbia Business School.

At the first Columbia Connect in February, John realized every MBA student wants to take some time off and travel before school starts. He invited some fellow classmates to join and the idea of a pre-MBA tour caught on like wildfire. That weekend, he recruited a group of interested peers to discuss how they could coordinate the summer travel plans for their entire class. That’s when realized they had stumbled onto a big opportunity!

Within a week, a leadership team had emerged with each person leading a small section of the trip. By the end of week two, alumni leaders and admitted students around the world had volunteered to host the groups of students visiting their home countries.

That summer, nearly 100 classmates met up in various locations around the world and met over 200 executives and alumni. The following year, nearly 140 students (over 25% of the September intake) participated in the CBS World Tour. It has evolved into a fast-paced and dynamic organization that exemplifies the modern way of doing business on a global scale.

The mission of the CBS World Tour is simple: Bring together students and alumni from around the world to share unique experiences that create strong personal bonds, which expand beyond the academic and professional realm... it is the official welcome into the CBS Lifetime Community.